USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the provincial period. 1692-1775 v. II > Part 26
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1 Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 34; Bancroft, v. 106.
2 Bancroft, v. 106.
3 Bancroft, v. 107, 108, note.
Bancroft, v. 134-136.
280
THE STAMP ACT PROPOSED.
CHAP. gentlemen favored the project of taxation ; and to Jenkinson X. was assigned the duty of preparing the business for Parlia- 1763. ment.1 The stamp act was not openly included in this project ; and Grenville professed an unwillingness to urge, nay, he even declared that he should have esteemed himself " unpardonable " had he "thought of, this measure, without having previously made every possible inquiry into the condition of America." 2 ! Hence information of the state of public feeling was pro- posed to be sought from the colonial governors, and others in whom he had confidence ; 3 but before any decision was reached Aug.20. Egremont died ; Lord Shelburne withdrew from his post ; and Sept. 9. the Bedford and Grenville, parties formed an alliance with Halifax as the secretary of the southern department, and the Earl of Hillsborough, like Shelburne an Irish as well as an English peer, as the head of the Board of Trade.4
Immediately upon the establishment of this ministry, Gren- ville, as lord treasurer, renewed the attempt for the passage Sep. 22. of a revenue bill ; and, meeting with Lord North and Mr. Hunter at the board room in Downing Street, a minute was adopted, directing Jenkinson to "write to the commissioners of the stamp duties to prepare a draught of a bill to be pre- sented to Parliament for extending the stamp duties to the
1 Bancroft, v. 136.
2 Grenville, in Cavendish, i. 494; Bancroft, v. 136, note.
3 Possibly Hutchinson was one of those consulted, as he writes to Rich- ard Jackson, September 2, 1763, " For my part, I have always wished, whilst I was in trade myself, for some effec- tual measures to put a stop to all con- traband trade; but I have always thought it might have been done without any further provision by the Parliament. The real cause of the illicit trade in this province has been the indulgence of the officers of the customs ; and we are told that the cause of this indulgence has been that they have been quartered upon for more than their legal fee, and that
without bribery and corruption they must starve. If the fanatics of the present age will not admit of a reform in this respect, perhaps the provision now made may be the next best pro- cedure. I wish success to it." MS. Corresp. ii.
4 Grenville Corresp. ii. 93-99, 104 -112, 115-123, 193-207 ; Walpole's George III. i. 288-295 ; Lord Orford's Mems. i. 288; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 36 et seq. ; Bancroft, v. 138- 148. "Thus," says Walpole, " from a strange concurrence of jarring cir- cumstances, there sprang out of great weakness a strong and cemented min- istry, who all acquiesced in the pre- dominant power of Grenville."
281
THE STAMP ACT.
colonies." The next day Jenkinson attended to this duty, and CHAP. the stamp act was draughted to be presented to Parliament.1 X.
1763. Sept.23.
It must be owned that this measure, now for the first time distinctly brought forward, was not, at the outset, seriously opposed by the colonial agents in London. Knox, of Georgia, publicly defended the act, as " least liable to objection ; " 2 and Jasper Mauduit, the agent of Massachusetts, through his broth- er, Israel Mauduit, not only gave to it the weight of his influ- ence, but promised for his constituents, a " cheerful submission." 3 Richard Jackson alone, the secretary of Grenville, had the courage to oppose the proposition, and refused to take part in preparing or supporting it.4 But Jenkinson, the secretary of the treasury, gave different counsel, and was listened to in preference because his advice fell in with the preconceived notions of the minister. For Grenville, the die was cast ; and whatever odium might attach to the measure, he was prepared to assume it. Nor is it unjust to impute to him the paternity of the act. He "brought it into form." It was deliberately adopted by him. And, from his official position, the burden of sustaining it must rest on his shoulders.5 He believed it to be founded on " the true principles of policy, of commerce, and of finance ; " and, as it was his highest ambition to frame a " well-digested, consistent, wise, and salutary plan of coloniza- tion and government," the stamp act was fostered as its basis and ultimatum, as the "one thing needful " to give to it vitality.6 The minister knew that the act would be unpalatable; and no sooner were his orders issued to the officers of the customs in Oct. the colonies to assume their posts, with "new and ample in- structions enforcing in the strongest manner the strictest atten-
' Treasury Minutes, Sept. 22, 1763 ; Jenkinson's Lett. of Sept. 23, 1763 ; Bancroft, v. 151, and notes.
2 See his pamphlet, published at London in 1765, entitled "The Claim of the Colonies to an Exemption from Internal Tax, &c., considered," p. 2.
3 Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 158.
4 Letter to Jared Ingersoll, March 22, 1766, in Ingersoll's Letters, 43 ; Bancroft, v. 155.
5 Burke's Speech on Amer. Taxa- tion; Conduct of the late Administra- tion examined, 77; Bancroft, v. 156.
6 Regulations concerning the Col- onies, 5, 114; Bancroft, v. 157.
282
ACTION OF THE GENERAL COURT.
CHAP. tion to their duty," than the consequences which were foreseen X. began to be developed. The "restraint and suppression of 1763. practices which had long prevailed " could not but " encounter great difficulties in such distant parts of the king's dominions," Oct. 4. so that the whole force of the royal authority was invoked in aid. And when orders were issued to the commander-in-chief in America, that the troops under his command should " give their assistance to the officers of the revenue for the effectual suppression of contraband trade," and when Admiral Colville and his subordinate officers qualified themselves for their new and distinguished duties as excisemen and tidewaiters, and entered upon their discharge, the whole country was aroused ; the proceedings of the officers were bitterly denounced ; the colonists, subjected to vexatious delays and expenses, were stung nearly to madness ; and prudence alone, probably, pre- vented them from showing their resentment more openly by forcibly resisting such proceedings.1
1764.
Jan. 11.
In this posture of affairs, the action of the General Court was prompt and decided ; and a committee of the House, upon a memorial of the merchants of Boston, Plymouth, Marblehead, Salem, and Newbury, presented a report, with instructions to Mr. Mauduit to labor for the repeal of the obnoxious sugar act, and to exert himself to prevent the passage of the stamp act, "or any other impositions or taxes upon this or the other American colonies." 2 It was not upon "mere speculative points in government " that people now took sides; nor is it true that there was "nothing in practice which could give any grounds for forming parties." It was with good cause that the " officers of the crown, and especially all officers of the customs, were considered as engaged in measures more restric- tive of the natural rights and liberties of the people than the
1 Grahame, ii. 368; Bancroft, v. 362. Proclamations against the clan- destine importation of goods were issued December 26, 1763, and pub- lished in the newspapers of the fol-
lowing month. Boston Gazette for Jan. 5, 12, and 26, 1764.
2 Mass. Rec's ; Journal H. of R. for 1764, p. 182; Minot, ii. 140, 148.
283
A NEW AGENT CHOSEN.
ends for which government was instituted made necessary." CHAP. Royalists might content themselves with saying, " We have the X. law on our side," and they might sneer at the "squibs " which 1764. were " thrown at their general characters in newspapers, hand- bills, &c. ; "1 but the anger of the people which vented itself in these ways was called forth by the manifest unconstitution- ality of the measures of which they complained ; and Otis came forward again as the champion of their rights, which he vindicated in a pamphlet of signal ability.2
As the position of Mr. Mauduit was somewhat equivocal, and but feeble hopes were entertained of his exerting himself resolutely to stay the progress of oppressive legislation, it was proposed, before the adjournment of the General Court, to Jan. choose a new agent, to be joined with him in remonstrating with the ministry ; and the choice fell upon Thomas Hutchin- son, the lieutenant governor, who by his complaisance had re- gained the favor of the people, and who was apparently sincere in his professions of regard to the liberties of his country. The vote in his favor was nearly unanimous ; but as it was intimated by Governor Bernard that it would be improper for him to be absent from the province without permission, - an opinion in which he seemed to acquiesce, - the House, much to his chagrin, voted to excuse him from serving as agent ; and Feb. 1. thenceforth, satisfied that he had little to expect from the prov- ince, the current of his feelings turned into a new channel ; and, like the " waiters upon Providence" of the age of Crom- well, " he deemed it a high delinquency towards Heaven if he afforded countenance to any cause longer than it was favored by fortune." 3
1 Hutchinson, iii. 103.
His Rights of the Colonies.
2 Comp. Hutchinson, MS. Corresp. ii. 76, 77 ; Minot, ii. 143; Novanglus, 283.
3 MS. Corresp. of Hutchinson, pas- sim. That Hutchinson, at one time, stood high in the public favor, is evi-
dent from the writings even of those who differed from him in opinion. " Has not his merit," says John Ad- ams, (Diary, in Works, ii. 189,) “ been sounded very high by his countrymen for twenty years ? Have not his coun- trymen loved, admired, revered, re- warded, nay, almost adored him ?
284
RENEWAL OF GRENVILLE'S SCHEME.
1764. Mar. 9.
CHAP. X. At the opening of the spring the scheme of Grenville for the passage of the stamp act was renewed. But, though there were many who favored the scheme both in Parliament and out, the Americans in London, with very few exceptions, de- nied both the justice and the right of Parliament to impose such a tax while the colonies were unrepresented in that body. Nor were there wanting "members of the House of Commons" who " declared against the stamp duty while it was a mere matter of conversation ; " Pitt had steadily and uniformly op- posed it ; and even Lord Hillsborough, the first lord of trade, signified his dissent.1 It was not, therefore, a measure which seemed likely to pass without debate ; nor could the minister deny the force of the objections urged by the colonies. Yet, determined not to falter, Grenville persisted in adhering to his policy. But one point would he concede ; and this he was induced to yield at the urgent request of Thomas Penn, one of the principal proprietors of Pennsylvania, William Allen, the chief justice of the same province, and Richard Jackson, his own private secretary. Declaring that, in their judgment, the proposed stamp duty was "an internal tax," and that it would be better to " wait till some sort of consent to it shall be given by the several assemblies, to prevent a tax of that nature from being levied without the consent of the colonies," 2 Grenville so far listened to these representations as to consent.
Have not ninety-nine in a hundred of them really thought him the greatest man in America? Has not the per- petual language of many members of both Houses, and of a majority of his brother counsellors, been, that Mr. Hutchinson is a great man - a pious, a wise, a learned, a good man, an em- inent saint, a philosopher, &c., the greatest man in the province, the greatest on the continent, &c. ? Nay, have not the affection and admiration of his countrymen arisen so high as often to style him the greatest and best man in the world; that they
never saw, nor heard, nor read of such a man ? a sort of apotheosis, like that of Alexander and that of Cæsar while they lived."
1 Hutchinson, iii. 116 ; Bancroft, v. 181. " It was the fate of the times," says Walpole, George III. ii. 71, 72, " to stir questions which, for the hap- piness of the whole, had better have slept in oblivion. From this moment nothing was heard from America but questions of the right of taxation."
2 Grenville Corresp. ii. 393; Mass. Gazette for May 10, 1764; Bancroft, v. 183.
285
POLICY OF GRENVILLE.
" out of tenderness to the colonies," to postpone the tax for CHAP. one year. His views had not changed ; and this consent was
but a politic stroke to furnish hereafter additional pretexts for urging his scheme. He was fully aware that the measure, if carried, must be carried by force. The approval of the colo- nies he neither sought nor expected. It was enough for him if the scheme was favored at home ; for, in his estimation, its enforcement was essential to the welfare of the nation, and would be attended with incalculable benefits to its commerce. Hence all his energies were bent to this point. He had com- mitted himself too far to recede; and his only care was to smooth the way for the success of his plans, with which his own triumph was closely identified.
Two steps taken by Grenville at this time were designed to conciliate the northern colonies. The bounties on hemp and flax, first granted in the reign of Anne, were revived ; 1 and encouragement was given to the prosecution of the whale fish- ery, in which the ships of New England were largely engaged.2 But the bait thus thrown out proved ineffectual to lure the people into the net which had been spread for them. The min- ister's own course, indeed, was sufficient to convince them that for all favors conferred he expected an equivalent ; for, besides giving notice of his intention in the next session to bring in a Mar. 9. bill imposing stamp duties in America, a bill was reported by Jenkinson, at his instance, providing that duties be laid on Mar.14. various enumerated foreign commodities, as coffee, indigo, pimento, French and East India goods, and wines from Ma- deira, Portugal, and Spain, imported into the British colonies
1 3 and 4 Anne, c. x .; 8 Anne, c. xiii. § 30; 12 Anne, c. ix. ; Mass. Ga- zette for July 5, 1764; Commons Jour. xxix. 995, 1011, 1035, 1040, 1041.
2 4 Geo. III. c. xxix. ; Debates in Parl. iv. 213; Regulations concerning the Colonies, 49-51; Mass. Gazette for May 10, 1764. The petition of the merchants of New England and
of London relative to the whale fish- ery was presented February 24, 1764, reported upon February 29, and re- ferred to a committee of the whole. In the ensuing month a bill was re- ported, discussed, passed, and ap- proved. Commons Jour. xxix. 877, 885, 912, 946, 953, 956, 977, 986, 994, 995, 1004, 1015, 1018, 1023, 1028, 1031, 1056.
X. 1764.
286
DUTIES ON MOLASSES AND SUGARS.
CHAP. and plantations in America, and upon other articles, the prod- X. uce of the colonies, exported to any other place than Great 1764. Britain ; that a duty of threepence per gallon be laid on mo- lasses and sirups, and an additional duty of twenty-two shillings per hundred weight upon white sugars, of the growth of any foreign American plantation, imported into the British colo- nies ; and that the income of this last duty should be paid into his majesty's exchequer, to be disposed of by Parliament towards " defraying the necessary expenses of defending, pro- tecting, and securing the British colonies and plantations in America." The bill thus brought forward was rapidly pushed through its several stages, and, after some slight amendments, April 4. was agreed to by the Lords, and approved by the king. For April 5. the enforcement of its provisions, the jurisdiction of the Vice Admiralty Courts was enlarged ; and penalties for any breaches of the act were made recoverable in these courts, either in the colony in which the offence was committed or in any other, at the election of the informer.1
1 Acts 4 Geo. III. c. xv. ; Debates in Parl. iv. 207 et seq. ; Hutchinson, iii. 108; Mass. Gazette for May 10, 1764; Minot, ii. 155; Holmes's Ann. ii. 125, &c. The history of this bill is as follows : February 9, 1764, re- solves were presented that the laws relative to encouraging the trade of the sugar colonies, and the liberty to carry sugars to foreign parts, were fit to be continued ; but, though a bill was ordered to be brought in upon the latter subject, the former was post- poned. March 1, an account of wines and East India goods exported to America ordered to be brought in ; also, of foreign cambrics, and French lawns, and of the quantity of tea, which was done March 5. On the same day, extracts from papers rela- tive to American trade were present- ed by Lord Carysfort, pursuant to his majesty's address; and, on the 9th, further extracts, from messages of the colonial governors, were presented by Lord Charles Spencer, and laid upon
the table. These were the preparatory steps ; and, March 9, in committee of the whole, the resolves of February 9, which were postponed, were called up, and, with the preceding documents, and papers for preventing contraband trade, &c., referred to a committee. On the 10th Mr. Whateley presented their report, imposing duties on cof- fee, indigo, wines, &c., making the sugar act perpetual from and after September 29, 1764, and imposing a duty of 3d. sterling in money on mo- lasses, sirups, &c., the income of which was to be paid into the exchequer. Bills were ordered to be brought in in accordance with this report, with a clause to prevent clandestine exporta- tion and importation ; and a bill for charging "certain stamp duties in the said colonies and plantations." On the 13th Mr. Whateley, from the committee on ways and means, re- ported certain resolves relative to the colonies, upon which bills were or- dered. On the 16th the bill on Amer-
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287
THE NEWS REACHES AMERICA.
Thus the scheme of taxation which Grenville had long cher- CHAP. ished, and which Bernard approved, - that scheme which is X. said to have been "in conformity to uninterrupted precedent 1764. for near a hundred years,"1 - was fairly begun. Its very audacity is a sufficient proof of the perversity of its patrons. How it would be received by the colonies few stopped to inquire. From the character of the state papers which had crossed the Atlantic, it was supposed that the spirit of the peo- ple would be easily tamed, and that all that was necessary to secure submission was a vigorous administration, backed by an appeal to military force in case of resistance.
The news that the sugar act had passed was not long in June. reaching America ; and there was "not a man on the continent who did not consider it a sacrifice made of the northern colo- nies to the superior interest in Parliament of the West Indies." 2 Before this date, the town of Boston, at its annual meeting, May 28. passed, at the instance of Samuel Adams, a series of resolves instructing its representatives what course to pursue, and rec- ommended an appeal to "the other North American colonies " to add the weight of their protest to "that of this province,
ican duties was read a second time, and referred to a committee of the whole. On the 20th persons were sent for to attend this committee ; and on the 22d, the supply bill being again under consideration, with Mr. Whate- ley in the chair, other persons were ordered to attend. Thus the matter continued along until the 30th, when the bill was read the third time, and ordered to be engrossed. It was agreed to by the Lords April 4, and approved by the king April 5. Com- mons Jour. xxix. 825, 889, 890, 904, 907, 909, 933-935, 940, 945, 958, 968, 979, 981, 983, 987, 1015, 1027, 1029.
1 Conduct of the late Administra-
tion examined, p. 7; Debates in Parl. iv. 251, note. " It had been proposed to Sir Robert Walpole," says Horace
Walpole, Mems. George III. ii. 70, "to raise the revenue by imposing taxes on America ; but that minister, who could foresee beyond the actual moment, declared it must be a bolder man than himself who should venture on such an expedient. That man was found in Grenville, who, great in dar- ing and little in views, was charmed to have an untrodden field before him of calculation and experiment."
2 Mass. Gazette for May 10, 1764 ; Weare's Lett. in 1 M. H. Coll. i. 83. " These colonies," says the Mass. Ga- zette, "are under very great disadvan- tages in not being sufficiently interest- ed in Parliament ; for the want of which the West Indies have been able to carry every point against them, and their interests are almost totally dis- regarded."
288
ACTION OF THE GENERAL COURT.
CHAP. that, by united application, we may happily obtain redress." 1 X. The General Court, of which the Council was the conservative
1764. branch, had hitherto maintained a decorous reserve in its ap- peals to the ministry, and had only suggested that the passage of such acts would be esteemed a grievance, and that the com- merce of the country, already overburdened, would be forced into unnatural channels.2 But now that it was compelled to take stronger grounds, a " Statement of the Rights of the Col- onies " was prepared by James Otis, and the " Sentiments of a British American " were published by Oxenbridge Thacher.3 Jun. 13. A new letter of instructions was also draughted to be sent to Mr. Mauduit, the tone of which indicates the feelings that pre- vailed. "If all the colonies," say they, "are to be taxed at. pleasure, without any representation in Parliament, what will there be to distinguish them, in point of liberty, from the sub- jects of the most absolute prince ? Every charter privilege may be taken from us by an appendix to a money bill, which, it seems by the rules on the other side of the water, must not at any rate be petitioned against. To what purpose will opposi- tion to any resolutions of the ministry be, if they are passed with such rapidity as to render it impossible for us to be ac- quainted with them before they have received the sanction of an act of Parliament ? A people may be free, and tolerably happy, without a particular branch of trade; but, without the privilege of assessing their own taxes, they can be neither." 4
Jun. 14. In accordance with the proposal of the representatives of Boston, a committee was appointed to correspond with the other colonies. James Otis, Thomas Cushing, Oxenbridge Thacher, Thomas Gray, and Edward Sheafe were the members of this committee ; and circulars were sent throughout the country, in which the dangers that menaced " their most essen-
1 Mass. Gazette for May 31, 1764; Hutchinson, iii. 107; Bradford, i. 18- 20; Bancroft, v. 194, 197.
2 Mass. Rec's; Jour. H. of R.
3 These were both published in Boston, in June, 1764.
4 Minot, ii. 169-175 ; Bradford, i. 21, 22; Bancroft, v. 198.
289
OPPOSITION OF BERNARD AND HUTCHINSON.
tial rights " were set forth, and the "united assistance" of all CHAP. was desired to obtain a repeal of obnoxious acts, and to x.
" prevent a stamp act, or any other impositions and taxes, upon 1764. this and the other American provinces." 1
As may well be supposed, neither Bernard nor Hutchinson was particularly pleased with these proceedings ; and Hutch- inson, especially, censured the "madness" of the House in inserting on their journal the letter to their agent.2 But the people viewed the controversy differently, and, excited by the eloquence of their favorite orators, censured the " madness " of the ministry, which, in their estimation, exceeded their own. A recourse to arms was neither thought of nor advised, for forcible resistance was acknowledged to be treasonable. More peaceable measures were adopted ; and a system of retrench- ment of unnecessary expenditures was entered upon, and ad- hered to until the struggle had ended.3
The expedient of the governor, to embarrass the action of the General Court, was to prorogue that body from one month to another. But the clamor against him became so violent that he was compelled to accede to the wishes of the people, and the assembly was convened for the transaction of business. Oct. 18. It was suspected, - and, as it afterwards appeared, not without
1 Hutchinson, iii. 110; Minot, ii. 175; Bradford, i. 29; Bancroft, v. 200.
2 " You allow," writes Hutchinson, July 11, " that it is possible for Par- iament to pass acts which may abridge British subjects of what are generally alled natural rights ; and I am willing o go further, and will suppose that in ome cases it is reasonable and neces- ary, even though such rights should ave been strengthened and confirmed y the most solemn sanctions and en- agements." MS. Corresp. ii. 90.
3 Resolves of the People of Boston, 1 Mass. Gazette, Supp't, for Sept. 13, 764. Says the author of Observa- ons on the Present State, &c., of the ritish Colonies, pub. in 1769, “ As VOL. II. 19
the inhabitants of New England pride themselves more than any other peo- ple upon earth in that spirit of free- dom which first made their ancestors leave their native country and settle there, and do really, as individuals, enjoy more independency, from ser- eral peculiar circumstances in their manners, laws, and situation, it is nat- ural to conceive that, upon the first apprehension (whether justly founded or not makes no difference) of any invasion of that freedom, they should take fire, and sacrifice to resentment - may I not say to virtuous princi- ple ? - the passions whose gratifica- tion consumed their articles of com- merce and luxury, and confine them- selves to mere necessaries."
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